3 Pigs BBQ

Whenever we're traveling with the kids, we do some serious planning when it comes to eats. After all, I doubt they'd be particularly happy about eating raw beef at an Ethiopian restaurant (but I would!). Therefore, I plan out each and every meal with backup restaurants just in case the first one is closed or full. This is all fine and dandy except we tend to eat the same type of cuisine over and over again (mainly Asian). Hence, I made it a point to eat non-Asian for dinner while in Bellevue (at least for one night). Located not too far from our hotel was 3 Pigs BBQ in a large strip mall. We have tried BBQ with the kiddies before with varying degrees of success and we were more than happy to chance it.

Upon walking into the place, I immediately noticed the AYCE Beef Ribs special. I wasn't exactly starving, but I couldn't help myself and decided to go all out. I opted for the spicy BBQ sauce, which was tart and sweet. Moreover, it definitely have a kick. As for the ribs, they were smoky with most of the fat rendered in the cooking process. The ribs alternated between being moist and juicy to dry and hard. This was based on 3 plates of ribs (yes, I had 9 ribs). For my 3 sides, I had corn on the cob, beans and corn bread. The corn was overdone and really mushy, while the beans were sweet and had no depth of flavour. The cornbread had a nice crunchy exterior, yet was really dry and hard inside.

For the kiddies, they shared the 1/4 BBQ Chicken with macaroni salad and garlic bread. The chicken was fairly dry despite being the dark meat. We did like the smoky flavour though. Without the spice, the BBQ sauce was once again tart and sweet. It wasn't bad. Viv ended up with the Pulled Pork Sandwich which, strangely, didn't have much BBQ sauce (in comparison to the other 2 dishes we had). Hence, the meat was dry and bland. We weren't even sure if they should've called it pulled pork as it appeared to resemble chopped pork more. Moreover, the side of coleslaw didn't help the cause as it was severely lacking in acidity. Overall, the food here was pretty average at best. We did appreciate the reasonable prices and smokiness of the proteins though.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Proteins exhibit a good smokiness

The Bad:
- Meats, on average, are pretty dry
- Sides need some work